Here is some additonal information on the lawsuit which was filed in BC Supreme Court Wednesday. Bear in mind these are only ALLEGATIONS and we have not yet seen Orca Bay and Acquilini's defence with their version of what occurred.
The claim states that Acquilini who was originally part of the purchase group with Tom Gagliardi and Ryan Beedie violated a verbal agreement and met with a representative of owner John McCaw alone. Shortly thereafter Acquilini withdrew from the purchase group (March 2004).
The suit claims Aquilini breached an oral agreement not to engage in individual discussions with Orca Bay and not to use confidential information supplied by his former partners.
On October 30, 2004 Orca Bay made an offer to the purchasers, they counter offered on November 2, 2004 and on November 5, 2004 Orca Bay rejected the couter proposal saying the Ocober 30, 2004 deal terms were final. The purchasers tried to reinstate the previous offer (Oct 30) but this was rejected by Orca Bay.
Orca Bay then reached a deal with Aquilini which is up for approval before the NHL Board of Governors.
The claim and remedies sought by Gagliardi and Beedie are:
"As a result of Aquilini's breaches of contract, fiduciary duty and duty of confidence... (t)he purported sale of any interest in [the Canucks] to the Aquilini Group is unlawful and should be set aside.
"The [Plaintiffs - Gagliardi and Beedie] are entitled to an order requiring the vendors [Orca Bay] to reinstate the Oct. 30 2004 offer so that it can be accepted by the purchasers.
"[And further]. . . if the court makes the order requiring the Oct. 30, 2004 offer to be reinstated, the purchasers state they will accept the Oct. 30 2004 offer. Accordingly, the purchasers will, upon such acceptance, be entitled to a declaration that the vendors are bound to sell the Enterprise to them on the basis of the Oct. 30, 2004 offer."
The suit also seeks unspecified damages.
This sort of case can take 2 years or more to get to court in BC.
Counsel for Gagliardi and Beedie is Irwin Nathanson, QC who is the senior partner in the Vancouver firm of Nathanson, Schachter and Thompson. Here is his bio:
Irwin G. Nathanson, Q.C.: Mr. Nathanson has practiced as counsel in the field of civil litigation and administrative law since being called to the Bar of British Columbia in May 1969 and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). His practice has included appearances in the Superior Courts of British Columbia and other provinces, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, and before administrative tribunals and arbitrators. Mr. Nathanson has considerable experience in a broad variety of commercial disputes, including shareholder disputes, professional negligence, class actions, commercial fraud, pension and product liability litigation. Mr. Nathanson was named by Lexpert as one of the leading corporate commercial litigation counsel in Vancouver in the publication, The 2003 Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. He was a founding partner of Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson in 1987.
